...We're not used to that this time of year, but we'll take it. It's
great that you're doing this; I appreciate the platform that you're giving
all of us as presidential candidates and I appreciate the idea that you're
looking at all the ideas and all the people and I think that's a wonderful
thing to do.

As I get started I want to show you two things, one that picks us up
and another that holds us down, as I get started. One's a piece of
carpet I got from the Iowa Corn Growers Association. It's regular
looking carpet; it's made out of corn, based out of corn. Now I don't
think you can pasture it; I don't think you can eat it, but I know you
can use it for carpet. It substitutes for oil products, and these
are things we need to do more of in the future to lift us up and to make
us more dependent on the Mid-West instead of the Middle East. We
need to do things like that. [applause].

And a second thing I want to show you is to my left here. It's
April 14th today. Tomorrow is April 15th. This is the Internal
Revenue Code, with interpretive regulations but not with court opinions
that interpret it. This should be taken behind a barn and killed
with a dull ax. [cheers, applause].

And I don't say that pejoratively, although those words sound that.
I say it because it's a system that's holding us down. We can grow
better with a different system. And it's on big ideas like this that
our party wins. And I want to propel those big ideas and those sort of
issues forward.

As I was introduced you noted and heard that I'm the son of a Kansas
farmer, and I believe anybody can still grow up to be president of the
United States, and I'm going?willing to prove that. And ours is a
party that as I run, and as I run as the son of a farmer, I run on that
party's principles that I grew up around. The party's principles
that I didn't really hear talked about so much at the dinner table, the
farm, but I saw practiced, and I saw practiced every day. Issues
like faith, family and freedom. I didn't know those were particular
Republican principles; I just thought that's the way people live.
And they are the way people live, and they are our principles and they
are the path forward for us as a country. And we should celebrate
them, not walk away from them.

Faith is a good thing. It's a powerful thing, and it should be
encouraged and not run out of the public square. We should be able
to say one nation under God in our flag salute and not worry about a lawsuit.
[applause].

The most impressive person I've ever met was a little woman, who at
the time was very frail. She was less than five feet tall.
She cared for millions of people throughout the world. Her name was
Mother Theresa. I met her towards the end of life, and she was a
lady of faith. As I, we hosted her on Capitol Hill to give her the
Congressional Gold Medal and she received it--wasn't interested in the
medal. They actually asked about melting it down and selling the
gold to get the money for giving to the poor, but we suggested they auction
the medal rather than melting it down; they'd get more for it. But
she wasn't interested in anything but really helping others. She
was powered by faith, though.

And as I put her in the car when she left from Capitol Hill, she told
me, really about her faith in three words, and she told me what powered
her, and she told me what had given her such zest and vitality and allowed
her to serve millions. She said three words four times. She said,
"All for Jesus. It's all for Jesus." It was faith that powered
her and faith is a good thing. It's not a bad thing; it's not something
we should run out of the public square.

Family is essential, and should be encouraged, not taxed, penalized
or redefined out of existence. And freedom is for everyone and everywhere
and we will fight for it.

We're in a time of trial and peril. We are fighting a war against
Islamic fascists who seek our demise and that of Israel and that of progressive
Muslim states in the region. For the sake of our children and our
grandchildren, I beseech you that we not lose the will to fight and win
this war. Please. [applause]. We can't do that. [applause
cont.] We will win if we don't lose the will to fight. If we
lose the will to fight our children and grandchildren will pay the price
and more. We will abandon the hope of freedom in the Middle East
to fanatic fascists, a thought our forefathers could not bear.

And we must reclaim our culture here at home if we're to be able to
engage in such a long term struggle. Institutions like marriage are
between a man and woman and they must survive and reverse its decline.
In the setting of family is the healthy culture passed from one generation
to the next.

And let's get rid of some of the coarseness in this culture and return
to just a few manners. Nothing onerous, just a few manners and courtesies,
like not calling people names. What Don Imus said is wrong.
I'll let others determine whether the punishment and the crime fit, but
for goodness sake let's stop having billion dollar record companies target
market the same language to teenagers through music. [applause].
Is that right? I think we need to shine a light on some of the entertainment
industry and the music industry in particular that profit from celebrating
and glorifying the degradation of women. I call on music industry
companies EMI Capitol Records and Sony BMG and Sony Urban Music to pull
all their music that uses the same words that Don Imus was fired for.
[applause].

If we did it in one place, it should be done in another. And maybe
some of the corporate executives of these companies should have some of
their bonuses cut for using such demeaning vulgarities to make profits
while hurting kids. [applause].

Being a father of five children, I guess I'm a bit sensitive about what
the environment is for my kids to be raised in. The late Senator
Daniel Patrick Moynihan once noted about conservatism that the central
conservative truth is that it is culture and not politics that determines
the success of a society. It's culture, not politics. We need
a culture that does not corrode and does not corrupt, but one that uplifts
and affirms in order to encourage goodness, so that we might continue our
greatness.

Let's commit to rebuilding our families and renewing our culture with
less crudeness and more dignity. Human dignity to me is a big thing,
and should be to all of us. Around it respect for each other springs.
I believe all human life at all stages in all places is beautiful, is unique,
is sacred, is a child of a loving God, period, and it deserves our respect
and our protection. [applause].

Let us as a party never lose our respect or willingness to fight for
the least of these. It's a central principle around which we've built
this party. It was one of those ideas that I grew up with, and it's
a good idea and it's one we need to continue. We are a party based
on principles, not personalities. And that's why I run. I run
to carry these principles forward.

And join me in this effort, and let us press forward to pick up the
flag and carry it forward even in tough times. For these principles
are worth fighting for and this country is worth fighting for, and these
principles will help carry this country forward. Join me in this
effort. Thank you. God bless this country, and thanks for letting
us speak here. [applause]. Thank you.